Public officials should have traceable wealth, local governance expert.

Gweru.A Local governance expert, Vincent Chakunda this week called onlegislative framework that ensures that public officials declare theirassets to avoid looting and abuse of public resources.

Speaking in Gweru at a public finance management workshop organised bythe Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd), Chakundasaid it was ironic that despite their low salaries and allowancescivil servants and politicians became rich people overnight withuntraceable wealth.

“Government employees and other public officials should have wealththat is traceable,”Chakunda said. “We can’t have public officials who become millionaires overnight. We should have a public management system that ensures that public officials do not generate wealth through corruption.” he said.

Chakunda said the the public management Act should be strengthened todeal with graft, which he said had destroyed the economy of thecountry. He said it was disheartening that public officials who got theirwealth through corruption were being condoned as enterprising peoplewhen they should in fact be arrested for such offences.

Chakunda added that there was need to deal with institutionalised corruption which he said had become a cancer in the country. “We may have good laws but as long as we don’t transform government institutions in the way they operate we will continue to face serious corruption,”he said.

Experts say some of the wealthiest people found in Zimbabwe come fromsenior civil servants and politicians.

In 2009 then Speaker of the House of Assembly, Lovemore Moyo, promisedthat he would fight to ensure that all legislators declared theirassets to be kept at Parliament in the assets of register.

The pledge by Moyo however suffered a stillbirth with critics suggesting that it was resisted because most public officials have “skeletons in their cupboards.”

Representatives from local authorities in the Midlands province alsoagreed there was need to deal with corruption in both central andlocal government levels